Nothing but net
UALR clinches Sun Belt title outright, pushes record to 26-3.
Chris Beard declined to boast about his surprising first year as the UALR men’s basketball coach all season.
Beard, as well as his players, finally let loose a bit Saturday night.
Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 21 points, Mareik Isom had 16, and the Trojans made 11 three-pointers in a 73-68 victory over Texas State in front of an announced crowd of 5,168 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
Instead of turning his attention to the next game, as he had often this season, Beard cracked a smile and climbed the steps of a ladder to snip the remaining pieces of a net from a Stephens Center rim. The victory, UALR’s 13th at home, clinched the Trojans’ first outright Sun Belt Conference title after 25 seasons in the league and their first in any conference since 1987.
The Trojans (26-3, 16-2 Sun
Belt), who were 13-18 a year ago, now have more overall victories than any team in Division I men’s basketball. On Tuesday night against Arkansas State, they can break a program record held by the 1986-1987 team that advanced to the NIT Final Four for the most victories.
“It’s a special journey,” Beard said. “I’ve dedicated most of my life to basketball. I’ve dreamed of having a chance to coach at the Division I level, and I’ve always dreamed of having the chance to compete for a championship.”
Josh Hagins, a senior who is two games away from breaking the school record for most games played, was the first to climb the ladder. The senior finished 4 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 6 from three-point range, but he had 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
“We’ve put a lot of time into what we’ve been doing,” Hagins said. “We talk about the process every day, and to see the results we put into it, it means the world.”
Hagins hit a three early in the first half to spark an 11-2 run, and the Trojans built the lead to 35-16 late in the first half. But the Bobacats refused to go away quietly.
Texas State (12-14, 6-11) trimmed its deficit to 69-66 in the final minute when the Trojans struggled to get the ball across midcourt, turning it over four times in the final four minutes.
But Isom, who was 4 for 6 from the floor and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, made two free throws to give UALR a 71-66 lead.
Texas State’s Cameron Naylor missed a jumper, Lis Shoshi came down with the rebound and passed to Johnson, who found senior forward Roger Woods open for an emphatic dunk with 5.8 seconds left.
With victory in hand, Woods went to the bench and hugged Beard, who was coaching at Division II Angelo State last year.
“I just told him ‘Thank you,’ ” said Woods, who had 10 points and six rebounds.
“‘Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for trusting me to be on the floor and be able to help my team.’ ”
UALR’s big lead was built by its work from the threepoint line. Johnson made 5 of 6 three-pointers and Isom was 4 of 5 for UALR, which made 11 of 20 threes. The Trojans were at their best Saturday in the first half, when they made 13 of 25 shots and 7 of 12 threes with 10 assists to take a 35-21 halftime lead.
“It’s obvious they wanted this real bad,” said Texas State Coach Danny Kaspar, who watched UALR players cut down a net from outside his team’s locker room. “They wanted to win this at home.”
UALR shot 52.2 percent (24 of 46) from the floor to overcome Texas State, which shot 53.9 percent (14 of 26) and scored 47 points in the second half. The Bobcats got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Emani Gant, while Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 17 points.
Gant and Gilder-Tilbury got Texas State, which is fighting for a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament, back in the game.
UALR led 69-60 after a Johnson layup with 2:50 left, but Gant scored inside and UALR turned it over on consecutive possessions. Gilder-Tilbury’s three made it 69-65, and after a Hagins miss, Gant made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 69-66 with 43 seconds left.
Beard said he thought the moment might have affected his team.
“The pressure starts shifting in the last few minutes, and there’s no secret what we’re playing for,” Beard said. “That’s why I was telling the players, ‘Let’s calm down, let’s just try to win the next possession.’ I was just real pleased with our senior leadership.”